Calling Promising Playwrights

For $1,000, maybe you should try

By Sandra Olivetti Martin

Could you write a play? It’s a tough job, as you’ve got to create plot, characters and conflict. Tougher still, you’ve got to do it all in dialogue.
Would winning a $1,000 cash prize make the challenge any easier?
The Colonial Players of Annapolis thinks it would. Thus the 67-year-old community theater company has put that premium on its 2016-’17 Promising Playwrights Competition. Win, and you get not only the money but also a June workshop weekend at the theater in downtown Annapolis, culminating in a rehearsed public reading of your play.
The biennial contest is open to unpublished plays from playwrights who live in Washington, D.C., or one of the 13 founding colonies of the United States. Submit a plot summary and 10-page excerpt. Plays that move ahead will be judged in their entirety. Judging is blind. Plays must be 85 minutes long with no more than 10 characters. Musicals don’t fit the bill. Enter by year’s end at tinyurl.com/PromPlaywright16-17. “It never ceases to amaze me how much playwriting talent is out there,” says Colonial Players President Shirley Panek. “It’s always a difficult choice.”